Tape placing tool



June 23, 1964 R. R. PARTIN 3,138,512

TAPE PLACING TOOL Filed May 14, 1962 INVENTOR. REUBEN R. PARTIN ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,138,512 TAPE PLACING TOOL Reuben R. Partin, 3725 Radenor St., Long Beach, Calif. Filed May 14, 1962, Ser. No. 194,418 6 Claims. (Cl. 156-461) This invention relates to a tape placing tool, particularly tape such as Fiberglas strips wihch are positioned on certain types of wallboard in the construction of a building. The purpose of the tape is to cover the butting edges of adjacent wall panels, all of which is usual and well known in the art. The tape which is placed on the wall may either be stapled or otherwise fastened in final position, or the tape may have an adhesive thereon so that it adheres to the wall panel.

An object of my invention is to provide a novel tape placing tool in which the tape is bent along its longitudinal axis by means of a forming or shaping die, thus stiffening the tape so that it can be readily placed in either horizontal or vertical position on the wall panels.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel tape placing tool which is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and effective in use.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a novel tape placing tool in which the tape can be both held and unreeled by the use of one hand.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention may appear from the accompanying drawing, the subjoined detailed description and the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective of my tape placing tool.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective of my tape placing tool in operative position.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of the handle and shaping die.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on line 44 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of the roll holding frame.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective of the shaping guide.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the wall panels 1 are butted together as they are nailed to the studding, thus producing a butting line 2 which is covered by the tape 3. The tape is formed as a continuous roll 4 which is rotatably mounted in a U-shaped frame 5. The roll 4 is positioned on a spindle 6 which rests in notches 7 in the frame 5, thus permitting the roll 4 to rotate freely as the tape 3 is placed over the edge 2. The sides of the frame 5 are preferably of suflicient length so that they will extend the full diameter of the roll 4, thus preventing the tape from running 01f of the periphery of the roll as the tape is used.

A handle 8 is fixedly secured to the frame 5 and extends from this frame as shown, so that the handle may be gripped to support and manipulate the tool, as best shown in FIGURE 2. A V-shaped die 9 is fixedly attached to the outer end of the handle 8 by means of the bracket 10. This bracket is substantially L-shaped and one end is welded, riveted, or soldered to the die 9, while the other end is bolted or otherwise secured to the handle 8 by means of the bolt 11. The V-shaped die 9 is closed at the bottom and open at the top, as shown, and receives a shaping die or guide 12, which is also V-shaped. The shaping die 12 is formed of light sheet metal and is positioned between the bottom of the die 9 and the bottom of the bracket 10. The upper edges of the guide 12 are bent inwardly and downwardly, as shown at 13, to receive and guide the edges of the tape 3 as this tape 'ice moves through the guide. A spring finger 14 is fastened at one end to the handle 8 and back of the bracket 10, and its outer free end rests in the bottom of the guide 12 for the purpose of holding the central portion of the tape 3 against the bottom of the guide so that a V-shape is imparted to the tape, thus tending to stiffen the tape and enable it to be more readily placed in position on the Wall. While the spring 14 is holding the center part of the tape against the bottom of the guide 12, the curved upper edges 13 of the guide will hold and direct the upper edges of the tape as the tape is reeled from the roll 4.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A tape placing tool comprising, a frame,

a tape roll journaled in said frame,

a handle on said frame,

a V-shaped die mounted on said handle,

the tape from said roll extending through said die and being shaped thereby,

and spring means in said die bearing against said tape to press the tape against the bottom of the die.

2. A tape placing tool comprising, a frame,

a tape roll journaled in said frame,

a handle on said frame,

a V-shaped die mounted on said handle,

the tape from said roll extending through said die and being shaped thereby,

a spring finger mounted in said die, one end of the spring wire being free and bearing against the bottom of the die to press said tape against the bottom of the die.

3. A tape placing tool comprising, a U-shaped frame,

a tape roll journaled in said frame,

a handle fixedly mounted on said frame and projecting therefrom,

a V-shaped die mounted on one end of said handle,

the tape from said roll extending through said die and being shaped thereby,

and a spring finger mounted at one end on said handle and extending into the die to engage and press said tape against the bottom of the die.

4. A tape placing tool comprising, a frame,

a tape roll journaled in said frame,

a handle on said frame,

a V-shaped die mounted on said handle,

the tape from said roll extending through said die and being shaped thereby,

spring means in said die bearing against said tape to press the tape against the bottom of the die,

a shaping die mounted in the first named die and shaped to conform to the first named die,

said last named die including downwardly curved upper edges thereon to engage the edges of the tape.

5. A tape placing tool comprising, a frame,

a tape roll journaled in said frame,

a handle on said frame,

a V-shaped die mounted on said handle,

the tape from said roll extending through said die and being shaped thereby,

a spring finger mounted in said die, one end of the spring wire being free and bearing against the bottom of the die to press said tape against the bottom of the die,

a shaping die mounted in the first named die and shaped to conform to the first named die,

said last named die including downwardly curved upper edges thereon to engage the edges of the tape.

6. A tape placing tool comprising, a U-shaped frame,

a tape roll journaled in said frame,

a handle fixedly mounted on said frame and projecting therefrom,

a V-shaped die mounted on one end of said handle,

the tape from said roll extending through said die and being shaped thereby,

a spring finger mounted at one end on said handle and extending into the die to engage and press said tape against the bottom of the die,

a shaping die mounted in the first named die and References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Allen Jan. 18, 1944 Ort Jan. 24, 1950 Goode Nov. 7, 1961 

1. A TAPE PLACING TOOL COMPRISING A FRAME, A TAPE ROLL JOURNALED IN SAID FRAME, A HANDLE ON SAID FRAME, A V-SHAPED DIE MOUNTED ON SAID HANDLE, THE TAPE FROM SAID ROLL EXTENDING THROUGH SAID DIE AND BEING SHAPED THEREBY, AND SPRING MEANS IN SAID DIE BEARING AGAINST SAID TAPE TO PRESS THE TAPE AGAINST THE BOTTOM OF THE DIE. 